China, with its initial donation of just $100,000, is so far squandering an opportunity to show generosity, decisiveness and leadership in disaster relief.

The United States may not be giving much money yet either, but the rapid response already underway by US military forces is sending a signal that will be noticed across the region.

It may give new meaning to the so-called pivot to Asia, at a time when some observers were starting to question Washington's commitment.

Amid the horrific human tragedy, it may feel heartless to speculate about the geopolitics of the typhoon that has taken thousands lives, most of them in the Philippines.

But there is always an edge of strategic diplomacy to nations' efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance.

Even while they work to comfort the afflicted, governments calculate what is in it for their image and influence. And at least nations' competing to bring help is better than their competing to do harm.

The diplomacy of aid delivery can also illuminate changing patterns of influence, capability and confidence in the regional balance of power – especially when military forces are involved.

Some military capabilities, from heavy-lift aircraft to helicopters to hospital ships, are invaluable for rapid response to natural disasters - they bring in food, drinking water, shelter and medical help.

The US has long led the world in possessing and being willing to use such capabilities, but some other countries, especially China, have been acquiring them too in recent years.

For instance, it now has a hospital ship, Peace Ark, used for the same kind of goodwill missions that the crews of American ships like the USNS Mercy have long been familiar with.

In deciding to build such forces, Beijing almost certainly drew lessons from the experience of the Indian Ocean tsunami that caused such devastation in December 2004.

Earlier disasters led to 'Asian NATO'

That catastrophe also provided a lesson in the way disaster responses can reflect and affect the security alignments among states.

A notable feature of the international response in 2004 and into 2005 was the speedy and sustained mobilisation of a self-selected "core group" of four nations - the US, Japan, India and Australia - to deliver relief using military and civilian assets.

That arrangement had real geopolitical effects. It advanced military cooperation, trust and dialogue among those four powers. That in turn set the ball rolling for a quadrilateral dialogue a few years later, when officials from the four countries convened closed-door talks on lessons learned from coordinating the tsunami relief effort, potentially as a precursor to conferring on other shared security interests and intentions.

This four-way conversation on disaster relief, plus American and Japanese rhetoric about the virtues of maritime democracies getting together, was enough to provoke accusations from China that an "Asian NATO" was being created to contain its rise.

The quadrilateral did not last, but those four countries have been improving their bilateral – and in some cases three-way – security ties ever since.

You would think this time that China would be determined to play a major relief role from the outset, promoting a friendly, magnanimous image of its intentions and also denying other countries the opportunity to build closer bonds minus Beijing.

China no longer has the excuse it had in 2004 – a lack of ships, aircraft and experienced personnel suitable for this kind of operation. Even then, at least it offered relatively valuable civilian aid, to the tune of $85 million. This earned gratitude in Indonesia and respect across South-East Asia.

Economic boom in China could boost humanitarian aid

Much has changed, but China now has more reason to help a neighbour in dire need, not less.

Regional diplomacy is scarred by deeper security competition and mistrust than in 2004. Since 2010, China has unsettled the neighbours, especially the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan, with its assertive territorial claims in disputed waters.

The dispute with Manila has become especially bitter, with confrontations involving fishing boats and security vessels, warnings by both sides about a willingness to go to war and China's refusal to recognise a legal challenge by the Philippines in an international tribunal.

China has the capacity to help, and doing so could benefit its own image and influence.

China is also stronger. Double-digit annual growth in Chinese military spending is producing firepower but also substantial maritime assets that can be turned towards effective disaster relief, such as that hospital ship.

In addition, there are now diplomatic frameworks for all the countries of Indo-Pacific Asia to work together in using their armed forces for humanitarian ends. Despite their clunky names, the ASEAN Regional Forum and ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus provide a mantle for many nations, including China, to deploy force for the common good.

China has the capacity to help, and doing so could benefit its own image and influence. And some notable voices within China agree. The famously hardline Global Times newspaper has editorialised that China should seize the opportunity to help the people of the Philippines, noting "China's international image is of vital importance to its interests".

Debate is underway, and China may yet deliver, as long as enlightened self-interest wins out against voices of nationalism.

Fleet Review key part of nations working together

But first impressions will last. Already the United States Pacific Command is sending in the Marines, along with ships, aircraft, medics and supplies. This is not just kindness to an ally.

At a time when American power and purpose in Asia are being questioned, it will also be noticed as a reminder that the forward-deployed American military is still the first and fastest responder to contingencies of any kind.

Disaster relief is often given as a reason for the US to have troops in Asia, including Marines in Darwin – and expect to hear that message loud and clear when Australia and the US hold their high-level AUSMIN talks in Washington next week.

And it is not just the Americans. Australia is using a RAAF C-17 heavy-lift aircraft to fly in emergency supplies. Even Britain is sending a warship to bring aid, the HMS Daring, which last month was flying the flag at an International Fleet Review in Sydney Harbour.

Military disaster relief works best when many nations contribute, and when they know how to work together.

That is why multi-nation training exercises, such as the Jervis Bay drills led by Australia and Malaysia on the eve of last month's Fleet Review, make a lot of sense. The Chinese showed up then. The question is, will they do so now.

It's a fundamental human yearning to be a part of something bigger than one's self, and maybe that's what drove my mate Ash to die, far from home, in a bloody foreign war against Islamic State, writes C August Elliott.